


A New Chapter

by Sumi



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/F, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2017-12-28
Packaged: 2019-02-22 21:12:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13175292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sumi/pseuds/Sumi
Summary: “This is a change Commander,” Ashley said as she wheeled Jane into the temporary apartment. “Me taking care of you, I mean.”Jane's heart warmed at the sentiment despite the casual tone Ashley used. “Ash, I'm no longer your Commander. You don't have to use that title anymore.”Ashley gave a half smile. “Then Shepard, you won’t be out of commission for good. You’ve actually survived dying before, and this time you only almost died.”





	A New Chapter

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AceQueenKing](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceQueenKing/gifts).



When Jane felt herself beginning to stir, she tried to clamp down on the few remaining tendrils of sleep that continued to be within her grasp. After finally emerging from a coma, she quickly associated consciousness with something unpleasant. The only thing that stopped Jane from ignoring the call back to consciousness was the familiar voice that started speaking to her.

“So, Skipper, you manage to work off that coma yet?”

These were the words that actually woke Jane up from her sleep. She slowly opened her eyes, despite the heavy protesting from her eyelids. Sitting beside the hospital bed, slouched over in a chair was Ashley; hair disheveled and frame gaunt.

Jane didn't doubt she looked worse given it had been months since she was put in this damn hospital bed (according to the nurse Jane practically threatened). The past day Jane was awake was little more than a blur. She managed to spit out a few questions at the nurses and doctors, demanding to know how long she'd been out with as much strength as a recent coma patient could muster up.

Surviving the Citadel had been the hope of, but never the plan. Jane had been ready to finally stop fighting and die knowing that the Reapers would no longer be a threat. Yet, somehow Jane Shepard survived the impossible. “So, Ash, you manage to work off that hangover yet or what?” Jane teased back in a voice hoarse from disuse.

Ashley let out a strangled sob before shifting closer to the hospital bed and giving Jane a weak smile. “Commander, after all the things we’ve been through, I wish I was nursing a hangover instead of malnutrition right now.”

“I… missed so much... Six months the nurses said,” Jane murmured in a tone that was barely above a whisper. Speaking was a struggle, but one of her nearest and dearest friends was at her bedside. Jane would be damned if wasn't going to force through it and talk with Ash. “So, the Normandy made it out safely, then. What about the rest of the crew?”

“Alive and accounted for, Commander.”

The memory of her choice to destroy the Reapers came crashing down around Jane. She squeezed her eyes shut, before opening them to look at Ashley with regret. Ashley said all the crew made it, but Jane knew the truth. “EDI didn’t make it, did she?”

Ashley blinked, expression becoming pinched. “Skipper, how do you know that?”

“It’s a long story, Ash. One I’m not quite up to sharing right now,” Jane choked out. She knew EDI would be gone, but facing the reality of it hurt and knowing what Joker was going through, made the guilt even worse.

“The nurses are starting to give me the stink eye, Commander. We can talk later when your life-threatening injuries aren’t so life-threatening,” Ashley joked in a tone that nearly matched Jane’s.

Despite the pain and exhaustion racking Jane’s body, she managed a weak snort of amusement. The Cerberus implants only went so far. Jane ended up with injuries that consisted of severe burns, broken bones, and a head injury to name a few. Honestly, resting seemed like the best option, even of Jane ached to talk more with Ashley and make sure the rest of her crew came out of this war mostly unscathed.

“Sounds good, Ash.” Brief memories of what Jane thought would be their last goodbye suddenly flashed through her mind once she finally gave into the exhaustion. An injured Garrus helping an equally (if not more) injured Ashley to the Normandy.

When Jane gave the orders to leave, the look her crew gave her made her stomach twist into knots. Ashley’s expression especially caused Jane’s heart to ache, but she had a mission to carry out. Earth and the entire galaxy were counting on the Crucible to succeed. It was almost exactly like the suicide mission Jane and her team faced all those months ago. The only difference, Jane definitely did not expect to cheat death for a third time, yet here she was.

Jane spent the next few weeks recovering in the hospital and receiving visits from all sorts. The only ones that mattered were those of her crew. She could do without the visits from the Alliance and the inquiries into the events that transpired on the Citadel. Jane remained as vague as possible. Alliance Military would have enough information for an explanation, but nothing more. There were some things Jane never planned to share with anyone; even those closest to her.

Weeks upon weeks in the hospital forced Jane’s restlessness to grow to unimaginable levels. The hospital signed for her to be released early only after Ashley volunteered to look after Jane. This drew a wry smile from Ashley.

“This is a change Commander,” Ashley said as she wheeled Jane into the temporary apartment. “Me taking care of you, I mean.”

Jane's heart warmed at the sentiment despite the casual tone Ashley used. “Ash, I'm no longer your Commander. You don't have to use that title anymore.”

Ashley gave a half smile. “Then Shepard, you won’t be out of commission for good. You’ve actually survived dying before, and this time you only almost died.”

“I can’t argue with that logic there, Ash.” Jane teased, voice no longer strained with disuse.

The recovery process would be months that could easily progress into a year or so. She realized the former position she held in the Alliance would be a thing of the past. Jane wasn’t even sure she wanted to return to active duty or serve in such a capacity any longer. The Alliance was her life for the past twelve years. Shifting to civilian life would be trying, but Jane felt so tired. She had yet to reveal any of this to her crew members, however, for she was sure it was going to be a difficult and unpleasant conversation.

In London, the sun had long since set. Jane felt the stress from the transition - even from a hospital setting to a cozier one - finally start to make itself known. The painkillers were fading and the many injuries were beginning to be noticeable again. She shifted her gaze to the cane the hospital insisted she take with her and moved so she sat near the edge of the wheelchair seat.

“Ash, would you hand me that cane over there?” Jane asked with gritted teeth, eyes narrowed at the cane she had no choice but to use.

She hated the thing, but with Jane still being shaky on her legs, it was necessary. Jane stood and nearly stumbled, but at the last second, Jane managed to regain her balance. Much to her dismay, Ashley hovered even closer, arms outstretched to grab Jane if need be.

“Shepard--”

“I have it, Ash.”

The words came out harsher than Jane intended. She was just filled with an overwhelming sense of anger and frustration. Many in the galaxy saw Jane as the famed Commander Shepard. Hero and saviour of the Citadel. The one who led an impossible, but successful war against the Reapers. If only they could see her now. Those who saw Jane as more than just a woman struggling to cope with formly life threatening injuries may not even recognize her.

Even now, Ashley continued to call her Commander until Jane insisted on her dropping the title. Jane heard it despite Ashley shifting to calling her Shepard. It made the frustration and anger grow to the point where Jane couldn’t ignore. Beside Jane, Ashley remained quiet but did not begin to leave her side until she finally reached the bed.

“Skipper, I was going to bring something up earlier, but the whole ‘I want out of this hospital’ tirade got in the way,” Ashley said wryly, moving straight onto another topic. “Some of the crew wants to come by and see how you’re doing. Grunt even floated the idea of temporarily moving in with this ‘Battlemaster’.

This brought a snort of amusement out of Jane. “Grunt would say that. Out of curiosity, what did you tell Grunt?”

Ashley cracked a smile. “I told him to ask his mother tomorrow.”

When Jane and Ashley had that falling out after Horizon, Jane feared they might never rekindle their friendship. After the whole mess with Udina, their relationship changed for the better. Ashley bonded with Jane’s crew members from the now infamous suicide mission and it became like she never left the Normandy.

The casual mention of Grunt and Jane’s relationship showed this to be true. Jane’s anger softened and nearly faded as she looked up at Ashley. “Mind a 400 pound Krogan hanging around for a few days?”

“Shepard, it’s no different than Wrex.”

“Yes, except Grunt is still practically a teenager. A Krogan teenager, which is much worse.”

Ashley let out a snort of her own. “Wrex tends to act like one.”

“I’ll take that as a yes then,” Jane answered with complete confidence.

They parted a moment later, Jane no longer able to ignore the need for sleep though not before Ashley and Jane’s gaze lingered on one another for two seconds to long. Jane instantly matched the sudden feeling to the rushed emotions that sprang forth when she watched the Normandy start to pull back from the battlefield. It was a wanting for something Jane never allowed herself to consider; fraternization rules and all that.

Back in that moment, Jane and Ashley came close to a kiss Jane thought about more than once over the years. Ash’s grunt of pain brought Jane back to reality and forced her to focus on the present and not the past or future that may not even happen if the Reapers weren’t stopped.

Ashley left and Jane did not stop her. She flopped back onto the bed, her still healing wounds protesting at the sudden action. If not for the door opening, Jane would have finally given into sleep.

“Forget something, Ash?” Jane posed the question just as she pushed herself up into a sitting position. Her friend and former crew member looked like she was wrestling with something so Jane didn’t press the issue. When she was ready, Ashley would tell her. Whatever it may be that was on her mind.

Ashley nodded, taking one step towards Jane, followed by another. “Skipper, it feels like we’re still dancing around our…”

“Ash, say it,” Jane urged, interrupting Ashley just as she started to trail off. “I’m no longer your commander so fraternizing rules be damned.

“--feelings.”

“We’re on agreement with that, Williams.”

She shook her head and smiled. “You could have some patience Shepard. I was getting there, you know.”

Jane knew that with the Reapers no longer a threat, they literally did have all the time in the world. They didn’t have to rush this, and Jane wanted to take it slow. The feelings always existed, but stayed there just below the surface where existed in a sort of limbo. She felt a sense of relief hit her at this realization before realizing Ashley had moved close enough to the bed to sit down beside Jane.

“The nurses did say I had to take it easy,” Jane pointed out in a teasing voice.

Ashley laughed, giving Jane the reaction she had been looking for. “I just wanted to rectify that time we said goodbye and almost broke fraternization rules.”

“We’re good Alliance soldiers who followed the rules even with threat of the end of the world at our heels.”

“Well said, Skipper.”

She decided to let a kiss do the talking from then on out. Jane’s injuries protested, but she pulled Ashley close and kissed her. It certainly did not lack passion. The kiss held years of bottled up feelings Jane had for Ashley. From the way Ashley responded to the kiss, Jane knew it had to be the same for her.

The need for sleep stayed at the forefront of Jane’s mind, but for now she wanted to indulge. For all Jane Shepard had done for the galaxy, she figured it wasn’t too much to ask for.


End file.
